Technical Field of the Invention
The invention is a home appliance that provides very rapid heating of a bed via forced heated air prior to the user entering the bed, or while the user is in the bed and also provides a cooling effect after the user has entered the bed via fresh room temperature air being forced into the bedding. That is, the invention relates to supplying forced air, which may be heated, within a space between a fitted mattress sheet and a bedding sheet.
Description of Related Art
Current control of the temperature of a bed relies on electric blankets or electric mattress pads. These devices are limited in their wattage capability and typically take 30 to 45 minutes to raise the temperature of bedding by 20 degrees F. As well, they provide no means to cool the user. They also provide no circulation of fresh air into the bedding.
Some products are currently in use in the medical field that provide forced air bed heating to patients in surgical recovery rooms. These devices cannot be used without proprietary gowns with airflow channels or perforated sheets with airflow channels that must be connected to the forced air heater for distribution of the heat to the patient.
The Electric Blanket Institute finds that the average electric blanket puts out less than 200 watts of heating power, and some portion of this energy is emitted to the topside of the blanket into the bedroom.
Electric blankets have embedded wires, which one can feel and these wires can be chewed on by pets or damaged by children and sharp objects.
Many electric blankets aren't reliable after repeated washings or have very special washing and drying instructions that must be followed. The present inventor has found by observing through an IR camera that wires of a brand new blanket purchased from a major department store after 45 minutes on “Hi” setting do not provide even heating. Older electric blankets cause hundreds of fires a year from wires in the bed.
It is desired to deliver heat to bedding and sheets or to provide the sensation of cooling to a person within the bedding and sheets, all under direction from a bedside remote control. In so doing, it is desired to deliver to bedding and sheets more dry heating power than is available from electric blankets in a safe and quiet manner at a temperature that is the same as provided by a household HVAC central air-heating unit.